Porn Undressed

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing.” – Psalm 101:3

“All healthy men, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, know there is a certain fury in sex that we cannot afford to inflame, and that a certain mystery and awe must ever surround it if we are to remain sane.” – G.K. Chesterton

Pornography is a huge industry in the United States, one of the largest.  As of 2004, porn was calculated to be a $57 billion year industry worldwide, with the US generating over $13 billion in revenue (but producing nearly 90% of the content).  The US ranked 4th in porn revenue, behind China, South Korea and Japan.  In the US, porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises. US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 Billion). Child pornography generates 3 Billion annually. 

Since 2004, the supply of “free” hardcore porn video websites has exploded, which has likely impacted direct sales revenues of porn.  See here. While revenues in some porn quarters might be depressed, the amount of available pornographic content is exploding.  PR Newswire reports:

Predominant content on the Internet is pornography, which makes up 37% of the total number of Web pages online, according to a new study published by Optenet, … .  The report, which includes a representative sample of approximately 4 million extracted URLs, shows that adult content on the Internet as well as illegal content such as child pornography and illegal drug purchase has undergone a significant increase of 17% in the first quarter of 2010, as compared to the same period in 2009.

Tens of millions of Americans regularly consume porn, to include ever-increasing numbers of children.  Children between the ages of 12 and 17 form the largest group of viewers of Internet porn (Family Safe Media, December 15, 2005).  Porn particularly harms children and young adults.  Beneath porn’s alluring mask lies a vicious and pernicious perversion of God’s gift of sex and of life.   “Mainline” pornography often endorses, condones, and encourages abusive sexual desires or behaviors.  See here (warning – analysis contains further links to graphic images).  Foremost, porn teaches and condones rampant sexual immorality. Further, the number of children physically and emotionally damaged by pornography only continues to increase.  Porn damages children directly when children are sexually exploited in porn.   According to a National Children’s Homes report, the number of Internet child pornography images has increased 1500% since 1988.  Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Internet Sex Crimes Against Minors: The Response of Law Enforcement. Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2003).  Porn also indirectly harms children when it incites adults to sexually abuse children under their control.   See here. 

In addition to being a moral blight, pornography spreads disease, such as HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes.  See here.

See: The Impact of Internet Pornography on Marriage and the Family: A Review of the Research

See also: Just Harmless Fun: Understanding the Impact of Pornography